Many stakeholders backed hiking USF rural health care program funding support, while industry parties focused more on improving RHC efficiency and oversight. Dozens of comments were filed at the FCC Monday and last week in docket 17-310 on an NPRM on possibly increasing the program's $400 million annual cap and creating a prioritization mechanism if demand exceeds the cap, among other potential changes. The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition urged increasing the cap to $800 million to reflect that potential participating providers more than doubled since 1997 when the current cap began. The American Hospital Association said the cap should be "significantly increased to keep pace with growing connectivity demand." Other healthcare interests and Alaskan entities, including tribal groups, backed an increase, citing the need to at least account for inflation. The NPRM "overlooks the significantly greater need for support on a per-location basis in Alaska's rural areas than in the rest of the nation," said Alaska Communications. USTelecom shared some FCC concerns with how the RHC program has operated in the lower 48 states, where "cases of waste, fraud, or abuse have come to light." The commission should focus on helping Universal Service Administrative Co. "detect and reject applications where federal universal service support is not needed" to meet statutory proposes, the telco group said. NCTA supported the promotion of telehealth in rural America "based on evidentiary data with a principal focus on defined needs and desired outcomes." NTCA said the FCC should provide better guidance to applicants, including on the specificity needed to describe requests for service support. "Ensure that satellite broadband services are eligible to equitably compete" for such money, said the Satellite Industry Association.
FCC Disability Advisory Committee outgoing designated federal officer Elaine Gardner (see 1802010019 and 1802010044) a Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Disability Rights Office attorney-adviser, retires from the commission March 2, and leaves the committee Feb. 28, an agency spokesman says ... Kurtin law firm hires antitrust and legal expert David Olasov, ex-Olasov firm, as of counsel; his clients have included media service companies ... Sony promotes Chief Financial Officer Kenichiro Yoshida to president-CEO, effective April 1, succeeding Kazuo Hirai, who will become chairman.
Wilkinson Barker hires as senior counsels Ronald Siegel, Richard Helmick and Ellen Edmundson, working on broadcast regulation and ex-Cohn and Marks, ending operations ... Mintz Levin hires new technology/wireless law expert Laura Stefani as of counsel, Communications practice, which also adds Elana Reman Safner from K&L Gates as associate, working on cable and broadband ... Davis Polk adds intellectual property litigator who has represented streaming-video and cable companies Ashok Ramani from Keker & Van Nest as partner, Litigation Department.
Hawaii’s false missile alert stemmed from lack of safeguards and human error, including a Hawaii Emergency Management Agency employee who repeatedly confused drills and real alerts, said reports from the Public Safety Bureau at an FCC commissioners' meeting and later Tuesday from Bruce Oliveira, the retired brigadier general investigating for HI-EMA (see 1801250061). That staffer was fired and other employees were disciplined. Members of Congress told us they continue to be concerned, as are FCC members.
Democratic Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel dissented Tuesday on an order creating a new Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA) within the FCC, which was approved 3-2 (see 1801230066). Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said the order was strengthened since it was circulated to ensure the office plays a major role in policy formation. Officials told reporters after the meeting the office likely would have under 100 staffers.
An appeals court won't hold oral argument on a Consolidated Communications challenge to an FCC order that denied SureWest Telephone a waiver from a federally mandated USF state certification deadline the company missed in 2012. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said in a brief order (in Pacer) Friday it will dispose of the petition based on briefs and other filings in Consolidated Communications v. FCC, No. 16-1431. The government argued the commission reasonably denied the request because SureWest confusion leading to a filing error wasn't a "special circumstance" (see 1705110036). Consolidated took over SureWest.
The federal government, not just the FCC, has been hit with a wave of fake comments in rulemaking proceedings, and the government needs to go after bad actors and find a way to make sure feedback is real, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said Monday at the State of the Net conference. Critics of the overturn of the 2015 net neutrality rules alleged many comments were fake (see 1712130051), but Rosenworcel said the problem goes much deeper. “There is a concerted effort to exploit our openness,” she said. “It deserves a concerted response.”
Most early commenters resisted FCC Lifeline proposals to retarget low-income USF subsidy support toward facilities-based broadband providers and away from resellers. Consumer groups and state regulators opposed the plan, NTCH was supportive, and a group against government waste urged the agency to pause for now. Some comments were filed last week in docket 11-42 on an NPRM and notice of inquiry, even though the FCC Tuesday extended the Jan. 24 deadline to Feb. 21 (see 1801230042). The proposals would eliminate subsidies for wireless resellers, cutting off about 70 percent of Lifeline participants, and move support from urban to rural areas, said Consumer Action, opposing capping program funding and requiring subscriber co-pays. A Pennsylvania collection of low-income individuals, service providers, organizations and consumer groups objected to the proposed facilities-based focus, said voice-only support shouldn't be phased out, and opposed proposals for a hard budget cap and lifetime limits. The LGBT Technology Partnership also opposed cutting off support to resellers. State regulatory commissions from Michigan, Missouri, Indiana and Minnesota expressed concerns about the proposed move to facilities-based support. New York City Council Member Peter Koo of Queens opposed FCC proposals that would scrap service to "75 percent of current participants," shift voice support to rural areas, cap Lifeline benefits and cap the program's funding. Backing the FCC proposals and asking that its previous petition for reconsideration be deemed granted, NTCH said that agency "forbearance" from applying a "facilities-based requirement" of the Communications Act "has led to massive fraud and abuse, a drain on the USF Treasury, and hoodwinking of consumers." Citizens Against Government Waste urged the FCC to wait and reconsider the proposal after it sees whether implementing a national verifier of consumer eligibility cuts down on abuse. Minnesota supported FCC proposals to restore full state ETC authority; Michigan backed removing federal broadband designations, with modifications for states lacking broadband regulatory authority; and Missouri said states need flexibility to make Lifeline program adjustments.
House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and three other House Democrats asked DOJ and the FBI Wednesday to expand the lawmakers' previously requested investigation into the “potentially illegal” use of stolen and fake identities to comment in federal rulemaking proceedings, including to the FCC proceeding that resulted in the commission's December vote to rescind Communications Act 2015 net neutrality rules. Pallone originally sought the investigation in June (see 1706280043). “The practice of manipulating agency actions by flooding rulemaking dockets with fake comments is far more widespread than it appeared when you were initially asked to investigate,” the Democratic lawmakers said in a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray. “Some Americans’ voices are being co-opted in what appears to be a systemic attempt to corrupt federal policy-making.” Immediate action “is needed in order to restore public trust in the federal rulemaking process,” the lawmakers said. Pallone and other House Commerce Democrats disclosed Tuesday GAO agreed to review fake comments in docket 17-708. The lawmakers sought that review in July (see 1707070039). The FCC didn't comment.
District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine will propose net neutrality legislation to the D.C. Council, an AG office official said Wednesday at a Council Government Operations Committee roundtable on a resolution condemning the FCC’s December decision to rescind Communications Act Title II protections. D.C. interim Chief Technology Officer Barney Krucoff and Public Service Commission Chairman Betty Ann Kane also supported the resolution, though Kane noted the PSC can’t regulate broadband internet access service (BIAS) providers or the internet.